Assembly folder



W. LEN NARTZ ASSEMBLY FOLDER July 30, 196,3

Filed April 1, 1959 INVENTOR. BYNHL /V/VZ United States Patent C3,099,463 ASSEMBLY FOLDER Walter Lennartz, Krautergarten, Dachau-ost,Germany Filed Apr. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 803,520 Claims priority,application Germany Apr. 3, 1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 28119) Assembly foldersof synthetic material for storing cases made of synthetic material orfor showing of so-called prospectus cases made of transparent soft foilare known; these folders have many different kinds of devices forfiling, which devices are made entirely of metal in the form of screwsprings, wire bows, etc. and which need fittings, again of metal andcomposed of several parts, for the connection to the fold-er.

Many and real disadvantages arise for the assembly folders through thesemetal holding devices.

First of all such filing devices demand a comparatively great amount ofspace, in height and in width, so that such folders have to have a wide,unhandy back which for the most part is not fuliy utilized and whichabsolutely is not necessary. The closed and only partly lled folder thenforms a long wedge which makes it impossible to stack many folders. Inaddition, the folder takes up correspondingly more space on a shelf,etc. Moreover, the single assembly folders are already somewhat bulkydue to the broader back necessary for the fittings, etc. so that thereis not, or not sufficient, room left in a dispatch case for otherarticles or these must be pressed together in a disadvantageous manner.Furthermore these metal holding devices increase the weight of thefolder and it is not only -the metal itself but also the thick-walled,stili folder cover, necessary for fastening the fittings, whichcontribute to the weight. If the folder consists of thin Walls andflexible parts as for example in `a paper folder, then only filingtongues can be used, not devices of the mentioned type.

Furthermore assembly folders of the letter file type are known whichhave a tiling device placed ion a track on the inside of the folder backand which track can be inserted and removed.

The invention relates to lan assembly folder of synthetic materialespecially for cases made of synthetic material which produces a newtype of assembly folder, an intermediate type between the stiff folderand the paper folder and which avoids the drawbacks of these two types.

The invention consists therein that an inside strip arranged on thefolder back has a bent-in fold on its free edge which, together with theturning fold of the inside strip, compose the guide for the track.

This design has a number of advantages.

First of all, the assembly folder remains at because there are no tilingmembers and thus the wide back also must be used since the flat insidestrip is used as a guide and the stack of cases iiled on the track liesbetween said track and the rear folder cover. The reduced weight of theassembly folder is also important; this is accomplished through thelight weight execution of the folder as well as by not using any metalparts. The dependable and permanent embedding of the case stack -bymeans of rthe track is especially to be noted; this is enclosed by theinside strip so that a loosening of this binding or an independentloosening or falling out of the track with its led stack of cases isimpossible, whereby it makes no difference whether the assembly folderis kept in a standing or hanging position. Finally the simple method ofuse is important: the track, iilled with the stack of cases is insertedinto the inside strip from one end of the same, either from the bottomfor from the top, or conversely, removed, in order to be able toexchange the cases on the track in the usual manner.

The following embodiments show the object of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view,

FIG. 2 is a front elevation, enlarged,

FIG. 3 is a view lfrom above, and

FIG. 4 shows a detail.

The assembly folder consists of the rear cover 1 and the front cover 2which are of hard foil and of conventional synthetic material.

The inside narrow and elongated strip 3 is arranged on the folder backand is made yadvantageously of one piece with the rear folder cover 1,which, according to the invention, is shaped to form the guide for thetrack 4, which serves to carry the stack of Ithe filed cases.

This guide is, compare FIG. 2, formed by an inwardly bent fold or lip 6on the free edge of the inside strip 3 and by the turning fold 7 of thestrip 3, so that a U-shaped setting is formed which holds the track 4securely and in spite of this makes it possible to insert or remove thetrack easily.

It is possible to provide a second fold independent of this on theinside of the fold 7, which can be made in one piece with the insidestrip 3; also the fold or lip 6 (or in some cases both folds) can runsomewhat bent against the strip 3 whereby the fold receives a certainamount of spring which increases the clasping ability without anydisadvantageous inuences lon the changeability.

The track 4 is provided with :a holding device for the cases 5 to befiled, which holding device can in general be shaped in different ways.In most cases the usual flexible filing tongues S are sufficient; theyare shown as dotted lines in FIG. 3. These 'tongues have the advantagethat they lie flat on the track 4 again so that the filed cases 5 andthe bent over tongues can be inserted into or removed from the U-shapedinside strip S without any diiculty. The filed case stack 5 on the track4 makes it easier to introduce and to remove the track 4 into,respectively, out of, the U-shaped inside strip 3, in that the stack 5for example is held directly next to the track with the thumb and rstfinger 'and then, while introducing the track is either pulled upward,or, when being removed, pulled downward, so that only one movement isnecessary to lay the track 4 free so that the cases can be exchanged.

In order to insert the track 4 into the U-shaped inside strip 3 it isappropriate to cover the holding device, i.e. the ling tongues or prongs8, or some other equipment arranged for this purpose, with an yauxiliarystrip 9, see FIG. 4. This auxiliary strip can also be made of syntheticfoil whose upper half is connected, either glued or welded, with thetrack 4 and whose lower half loosely covers the filing tongues 8 so thatthese can be laid free when they are to be used.

The attention is also drawn to the tfact that there is taken a specialmeasure which serves to increase the holding capacity considerably. Itis advantageous iwhen the cases `5 are executed with a simple foilappendage .10 arranged on the filing end and which is equipped withperforations. The appendage consists thus of a simple thin foil so thateven when 30 or more cases are stacked there is still a comparativelythin package which can be easily put between the inner strip 3 and therear cover 1 Without too much expansion of the folder taking place.

The rear cover 1 is connected advantageously with the front cover 2 by aback strip 11 composed of soft foil. lt must be said, however, that theexecution of the assembly folder as such can be formed as wished, ie. so

that the rear cover 1 with the front cover 2, together with the backstrip 11 and the inside strip 3 all consist of one piece of foil,whereby the inside strip 3` for exa ample is `formed by a rfold. In thesalme manner the foil for the rear as yWell as for the front cover canbe chosen as to the type of synthetic material, as to strength or as totransparency or opaqneness.

I claim:

1. An assembly `folder for storting thin transparent soft foil cases,letterhead sheets and the like comprising a cover of relatively stiffilat sheet material, said cover having a narrow elongated stripintegral-ly formed therewith, folded inwardly from the inner edge of thecover sheet to overlie the same, and extending substantially the fulllength thereof providing an integral relatively rigid guide, saidelongated strip lying in xed parallel plane relationship with the inner[face of the cover she-et, an inwardly folded guide and retaining lipintegrally formed on the elongated strip to oppose the integral fold ofthe elongated strip upon the cover sheet, said `guide lip extendingparallel to and slightly spaced from the underface of the elongatedstrip, an elongated track of relatively sti Iflat sheet materialslidably mounted in the rigid guide land runder the `guide lip of theelongated strip between the opposing lip and the fold of the narrowelongated strip npon the cover and retained against longitudinaldisplacement within the rigid guide by the clasping `action of the lip,and a holding device carried by said track for releasably securing thethin cases, letterhead sheets and the like to the track.

2. An assembly cover for storing thin transparent soft rfoil cases,letterhead sheets and the like as Idened in claim 1, and said holdingdevice running along one face of the track `and having bendable andreleasable prongs extending through the track and adapted to extendthrough the thin soft foil cases, letterhead sheets and the like andbent over and longitudinally extended along the opposite face of saidtrack to lie flush against the cases, letterheads and the lilse toreleasably retain them upon the track, a soft ilexible yfoil membersurrounding both faces of said at elongated track and secured to the oneface thereof to retain the bendable prong holding device against outwarddisplacement 'from the one face thereof, said soft flexible foil beingfolded over one edge of the track and extending inwardly to looselycover the soft ifoil cases, letterheads and the releasablylongitudinally extended prongs whereby to facilitate the longitudinalsliding of the track within the rigid guide without interference of theprong holding Idevice upon the track with the cases, letterheads and thelike being assembled npon or disassembled from the rigid guide and coversheet.

3. An assembly folder for storing thin transparent soft :foil cases,letterhead sheets as defined in claim 1, Iand a second cover of similarrelatively stiff .ilat sheet material disposed along the inner side edgeof the first mentioned cover, and a ilexible foil hinge strip securedush upon the outer face of the narrow elongated strip of the firstmentioned cover and secured flush upon the faces of the second coverIalong the inner e'dge thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2611,1111 Weber Iuly l1, 18812 1,410,000 Dawson Mar. 21, 1922 2,298,889Kearney Oct. 13, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 480,528 Germany Aug. 3, 1929897,511 France May 30, 1944 255,390 Switzerland Jan. 17, 1949

1. AN ASSEMBLY FOLDER FOR STORING THIN TRANSPARENT SOFT FOIL CASES,LETTERHEAD SHEETS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING A COVER OF RELATIVELY STIFFFLAT SHEET MATERIAL, SAID COVER HAVING A NARROW ELONGATED STRIPINTEGRALLY FORMED THEREWITH, FOLDED INWARDLY FROM THE INNER EDGE OF THECOVER SHEET TO OVERLIE THE SAME, AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULLLENGTH THEREOF PROVIDING AN INTEGRAL RELATIVELY RIGID GUIDE, SAIDELONGATED STRIP LYING IN FIXED PARALLEL PLANE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEINNER FACE OF THE COVER SHEET, AN INWARDLY FOLDED GUIDE AND RETAININGLIP INTEGRALLY FORMED ON THE ELONGATED STRIP TO OPPOSE THE INTEGRAL FOLDOF THE ELONGATED STRIP UPON THE COVER SHEET, SAID GUIDE LIP EXTENDINGPARALLEL TO AND SLIGHTLY SPACED FROM THE UNDERFACE OF THE ELONGATEDSTRIP, AN ELONGATED TRACK OF RELATIVELY STIFF FLAT SHEET MATERIALSLIDABLY MOUNTED IN THE RIGID GUIDE AND UNDER THE GUIDE LIP OF THEELONGATED STRIP BETWEEN THE OPPOSING LIP AND THE FOLD OF THE NARROWELONGATED STRIP UPON THE COVER AND RETAINED AGAINST LONGITUDINALDISPLACEMENT WITHIN THE RIGID GUIDE BY THE CLASPING ACTION OF THE LIP,AND A HOLDING DEVICE CARRIED BY SAID TRACK FOR RELEASABLY SECURING THETHIN CASES, LETTERHEAD SHEETS AND THE LIKE TO THE TRACK.